Dozens of 'Al-Qaeda fighters' killed in Yemen

Yemen's army has killed 37 al-Qaeda suspects and wounded dozens as part of a major offensive launched in the south of the country, the defence ministry has said, Alarabiya reported.

The "terrorists" were killed in the Maifaa region of Shabwa province on Sunday, on the sixth day of the operation against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters, the ministry said in text messages sent to journalists according to the AFP news agency.

On Friday, soldiers backed by warplanes had killed five suspected al-Qaeda members in the same area.

Hours ahead of Sunday's raid, state news agency Saba reported that army reinforcements had been dispatched to Shabwa to "deal with al-Qaeda".